When Bored
by Fairady
Summary: It's always the small things that can turn around a truly horrible day.  Gaara x Neji


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters. Thank your gods for that.

Warnings: Crap. Bit of shounen-ai.

Notes: This took forever and a year to come out right. I no longer know why I wrote it. I was just determined to make the floating pieces of text come together in a way that might form a somewhat coherent story.

When Bored  
by Fairady

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He sometimes wondered if Naruto really knew what he was asking for when he claimed he would become the next Hokage.

Gaara had the advantage of seeing first hand what a Kage's work was about before becoming the Kazekage. He'd known about the politics, the maneuverings, and the insane workload long before he was a Genin. Yet, it still hadn't fully prepared him for _any_ of it.

Especially not the paperwork. The massive mountains of paperwork that _never_ seemed to go away no matter how fast he signed his name.

Gaara was fairly sure that if he did need to sleep he would have been buried under paper within his first week. As it was he could just barely handle it in a reasonable amount of time.

Somedays he caught himself wondering if it wouldn't be better to just shove it all into the nearest incinerator. Along with any adviser that might protest that action. He usually only thought about that on the really bad days though.

Like today.

The whole day had been nothing but a steady stream of urgent requests, important reports, and a thousand other things that he was assured were absolutely vital to the well-being of the Village. It wasn't even noon and all Gaara wanted to do was pull his hair out and gnaw the face off the next person to come in with paperwork.

Which was probably why he hadn't seen anyone for the past hour or so. His advisers were always quick to spot any changes in his mood that might lead to their horrific and untimely deaths. On any other day he would have been annoyed at the lack of trust, but it was nice to have a minute to just sit. It was nice, until someone knocked on the door.

Gaara stared at the door through narrowed eyes. He hoped it wasn't Baki. The man didn't have much of a face left as it was.

After a silent five minutes the door opened to admit Hyuuga Neji Who bore only one harmless looking scroll. Gaara's irritation at not having a good excuse to maim was short-lived. The scroll, undoubtedly from Tsunade would be a welcome diversion. She rivaled him in sheer hatred of paperwork after all and wouldn't dare to inflict it on another Kage unless absolutely necessary.

Plus it would've be a shame to destroy that pretty Hyuuga face, at least not before he fucked the nin.

Gaara took a moment to examine that thought, as Hyuuga formally presented the scroll, before firmly punting the demon back into it's cage. It was a mental exercise that he'd found worked surprisingly well to control the demon's impulses from bleeding over to him.

Gaara took the scroll and snapped it open. Hyuuga immediately stepped a discreet distance back and waited. Tsunade obviously wanted a response. Curious, Gaara glanced at the short message scrawled across the paper. The message made him pause.

_Try it now._

Gaara tilted the scroll and read it again. The message still didn't make sense. Over the months he'd been Kazekage Tsunade had sent him many messages. Some important, but most were amusing correspondences that they both used to keep their people gainfully employed while also giving out the appearance of being very closely in touch with their allies. This was neither and left him puzzled.

Curious he turned back to the messenger, "What is this about?"

"Kazekage," Neji began to explain, obviously having expected the question, "I've brought a message from the Hokage regarding the up coming Chuunin exam. The testing areas are-"

Right. Gaara hadn't thought he would know what his Hokage was doing, but it had been worth a shot. Tsunade often gave false information to her people. Making them think they were delivering a truly important document when in fact they were only delivering a sheet filled with her drunken drawings. It amused her to no end.

"-numbers are expected to rival those of the last exam. Participants and observers will be-"

Not that he was going to complain. It _was_ amusing, especially on a day like this. He also wouldn't complain about the messenger. Gaara tilted his head and watched the nin's full looking lips move. There probably wasn't as much bleed over from the demon as he feared. Hyuuga Neji was a truly breathtaking man to both demon and man.

"-preparations are being overseen by our examiners and the capable people you generously-"

He leaned back allowing himself to sink into the cushions of his chair and let Hyuuga's voice wash through him. It was a pleasant sound and it sure as hell beat the paperwork.

"-Hokage awaits for your answer," Neji finished and politely waited for an answer.

Gaara blinked as a thought occurred to him.

"At your convenience, of course," Neji hastily added.

Gaara carefully pulled a sheet of paper from under a pile of treaties. He briefly glanced at the message the Hokage had sent him the previous week. The seemingly inane letter now held a new meaning, and he carefully folded it up before finally looking the other man in the eye, "What did you say?"

Neji blinked, opened his mouth, and shut it with a barely audible click. He studied Gaara for a moment obviously trying to figure something out. Gaara obliged him by doing his best to school his face into an approximation of Temari's usual impatient mask. It was surprisingly hard to do without eyebrows, but he usually managed it well enough to reject Kankurou's offer paint some on.

Neji stiffened but otherwise remained still as he began again, "The Hokage-"

Gaara tuned the words out again and studied Neji's creased brow. This obviously wouldn't take long at all. "I'm sorry, what?"

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Neji came out of the meeting pissed.

It wasn't a fact that was readily apparent to most people. His face was as bland as ever, but to those that knew him the signs were easily read. His left thumb was pressed hard against the index finger, and when he spoke his voice was stiff and utterly formal, lacking it's usual undertone of arrogance.

"We have the Kazekage's response we can leave now," He handed the message to TenTen and walked away not bothering to grab his pack. "Lee, don't."

"But-"

"No."

Lee and TenTen exchanged looks as Neji disappeared around a corner. They'd been a bit uneasy when the 'brief' message delivery had hit the half hour mark, but hadn't thought too much of it. TenTen had assumed the Kazekage was writing a lengthy reply, but the return message she held was just a single sheet of paper folded shut with no seals.

Which was just as good as being ordered to read it as far as she was concerned. TenTen unfolded it and Lee leaned over her shoulder.

_Gaara-kun-  
Pretend you can't hear him. He's cute when he's flustered._  
_Tsunade-Hime_

_Tsunade-_  
_You're right. He pouts too._

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End file.
